Posts Tagged ‘braindribbles’

I wrote this lighthearted post yesterday, blissfully unaware of the monstrous acts taking place at the very same time in a neighbouring country. I have thought quite hard about whether I should post something so seemingly trivial so soon after such a horrific event. And then I came to the conclusion that it was more important than ever to enjoy our freedom of expression and acknowledge it as a privilege, considering how, if those responsible for last night’s atrocities had their way, we would have such freedom taken away.

So here it is. Let’s not take our freedom for granted. Let’s make our world a happier place with talk of little things that don’t seem to matter and be grateful for the chance to enjoy them.

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365 days. And yet now it feels like I’ve always been like this. (We’re talking about my hair, by the way, if it’s not screamingly obvious.) Is it really only a year? I’ve gone through a huge range of colours since November 2014. Look, see. This is quite a long photo by the way, so I really hope it behaves itself for you.

What do I know now that I didn’t know then? Well, quite a lot. Let me list them for you.

Children will stare open mouthed and talk about you as if you’re not there.

Adults will stare open mouthed and talk about you as if you’re not there.

Some people won’t like it and tell you so.

People often feel the need to react to your hair in some way.

Some people will compliment you on a change in colour by telling you how they like it much more than the previous colour.

It’s very easy to overdo the colour in your clothes.

You don’t need make-up for it to look OK.

Red bleeds like crazy and fades twice as fast as other colours.

You can wear heaps of make-up – sometimes it looks good, and sometimes it looks like you’re a Goth. And you won’t know till you’ve passed the line and realised you have to reach for the wipes.

You don’t need shampoo to wash your hair.

Very occasionally people will genuinely think your hair is either patriotic, political or supportive of a football team.

You don’t need hot water to wash your hair.

Very occasionally people will deliberately pretend to think your hair is either patriotic, political or supportive of a football team just to see how you react.

Washing your hair in cold water does wake you up very quickly in the mornings.

It lasts longer than you expect, as long you can be bothered with the maintenance.

Mostly you forget you have crazy hair because you can’t see it.

Each time you do a new colour, it’s like planning your latest art installation.

Primary school teachers like it because they can spot you easily in the playground.

Your children will get used to it, and given time, like it.

It can make you feel like being adventurous in other ways.

White pillowcases are for other people.

You realise you can never get away with picking your nose in public again.

Navy and black pillowcases are your friends.

The jury is out on whether grammar school teachers like it.

It doesn’t fry your hair if you know what you’re doing.

You learn very quickly not to be self-conscious about it.

Random strangers will frequently approach you about your hair.

It doesn’t take as long to do the colour as you might think.

It’s not as high maintenance as you might think, but it is considerably higher maintenance than regular hair.

People do actually feel the need to touch your hair from time to time.

Every time you do new colours, it’s like that feeling on Christmas morning when you find your stocking brimming with presents 🙂

Oops. Been a VERY long time since I blogged properly. I must learn to stop making promises I’m too busy to keep. Sorry.

Anyway, I’m typing on an old laptop with a new keyboard that’s improved things from some-keys-don’t-work-at-all-since-smallest-one-picked-them-all-off …to works-OK-if-you’re-prepared-to-type-as-if-your-fingers-were-tiny-sledgehammers. My desk now looks out of our living room window and the kids, some of whom came home from school in a really bad mood, have turned the volume up on the stereo and are bouncing round behind me.

I felt inspired to reach for my inner poet today, what with my loved one being, well, just lovely. Life goes on at such a fast pace that sometimes it takes me a while to stop, reflect and realise just how wonderful he is to me. So I wrote a poem in advance of our weddng anniversary. Thought I’d share it with you. Some of you will recognise the references…and if you want to ask more the comments section is open!

(Feeling quietly proud of achieving a proper Iambic Heptameter too.*)

Another spring comes round again;

We’ve reached that time of year

When daffodils and crocuses

And blossomed trees are here.

From this I know that very soon

For one sweet day and night

I get to have you to myself:

A rare but fine delight.

I bless the day I realised

That you were meant for me,

I must admit, I was amazed

That you seemed to agree!

From broken ankles, moving in,

Eclipses, trips and more

I bear two moments dearest

When I knew our love was sure.

The first was back in Central Park –

You sprang a ring on me.

I was relieved you listened

And stayed off the bended knee.

The glistening snow, the words you spoke

Were such a huge surprise

I really couldn’t stop the tears

That trickled from my eyes.

The second time, our wedding day

I knew our love was strong

But when we spoke the vows we gave

I realised I’d been wrong.

I knew right then that what we had

Was so much more than love.

The feelings that we had that day

Had reached a plane above.

Today we’re twelve years further on

And one thing I have learned

My love is sometimes buried deep

Which risks you feeling spurned.

So let me now articulate

Those feelings deep inside.

I love you more than life itself

I cannot stem the tide.

The flow of love I have for you

Is matched by you alone.

Through times when we are struggling

Or kept away from home.

Each year I love you more and more;

I take my strength from you.

It’s you that makes my life complete:

I love you through and through.

Here’s a little photo of Loved One. Just in case you were wondering what he looks like.

I have to confess, last year was something of a washout for me. Mild depression and major fatigue were significant elements, but I worked through it, felt just fine on plenty of occasions throughout the year, got some proper sleep after Christmas and the world righted itself. Being an optimistic person, these things often do work out fine in the end. Once you have worked out how to crank the handle and put your life back into gear.

Anyhow, I’ve been itching to blog again for a few weeks now. I thought you might like to know where things are at chez Braindribbles.

Oldest one is 9. He’s just at the point where putting everything into mock inverted commas is a major part of his humour. Thinner than a beanpole and hungrier than a mammoth, I am starting to question the laws of physics. Or biology. Either way, it’s a mystery.

The photo below is from our trip to Snowdonia last spring, at a moment when he turned around to find the Easter Bunny right there and offering him a small Easter gift. He was rooted to the spot with embarrassment for a full minute. It was hilarious. For me, anyway…

Middle child is 7. She is loving finally being at the same school as her brother. It has solved so many issues for us. She’s also been industrious artistically – her recent paintings have merged her two favourite things: Hello Kitty and Star Wars. I hope you enjoy her work as much as I do.

Smallest one is 2. She’s completely out of nappies, thanks to the most sensible potty training book I have read so far. Her favourite song right now is ‘Three little monkeys’, often sung whilst jumping on my bed, while I’m still in it. Here she is, kidnapping my teaching dolls. Again. (Photo credit to middle child, by the way)

All of them are providing me with many many delightful cuddles through the day.

Loved one is being lovely as usual. He works so hard that he doesn’t feature much in the blog. Maybe that will change one day. He has something exciting in the pipeline and I may one day be allowed to tell you more about it…

As for me, well, I did qualify and I have a shiny diploma certificate to prove it. Somewhere. Buried in the piles of clutter I am still trying to work my way around. I’m loving my work, still getting used to the extra dynamic it brings but feeling more settled about it after 9 months of regular teaching.

I’m much more involved in my music too…more on that another day, but it’s all good.

As for the house move and settling in, well, we have the loveliest bunch of neighbours you ever met (they don’t read this blog so I’m not just saying that to humour them!), and have been so, so helpful in a challenging year and also become good friends. We intend to let the builders loose on our home in the next month or two, so we hope they will stay good friends in spite of the disruption!

And my general wellbeing has been restored by, would you believe, hypnotherapy…? Yup. I went on a Natal Hypnotherapy study day back in May as part of my ongoing training, and realised the possibilities for both my work and personal life. Of course, I didn’t take any steps to sort this out till Christmastime, but when I did, and did it properly, wow, what a difference. I’ve been using the CDs from Trance Solutions, an Aussie clinic that had the thought to make their work available on iTunes (a heap better than some of the other choices up there) and now I drift to sleep to a soothing antipodean voice and soft unintrusive music. And, after a couple of weeks, I started to feel like a completely new person.

Things are just as busy. I am just as forgetful. Things are just as messy. But they are slowly improving and, most importantly of all, I am feeling the way I ought to feel once more. Life is good.

Next post? Well, don’t hold your breath. But no doubt the itchy fingers will be back to give you a glimpse into my brain dribbles again soon 🙂

A is for Audible.co.uk – where I buy all my audiobooks before downloading them to my mobile.

B is for Braindribbles.wordpress.com. Of course.

C is for Clubpenguin.com. Sigh

D is for Dance4all.biz – the people I do my weekly dance’n’tone classe with.

E is for Ebay.co.uk. I groaned when I saw this.

F is for Facebook. Yep, that fits too.

G is for – no, not Google but Graze.com. I really like the snacks they send me.

H is for Halifax. A spot of online banking every once in a while.

I is where the influence of Google returns – images.google.com.

J is for Jayisgames.com – a nice independent game/game review site, for when I’m procrastinating.

K is for KrispyKreme.co.uk. I looked it up this morning when I was trying to find out why it was trending on Twitter. Turns out everyone thought their Enfield shop burned down in the riots this weekend (it didn’t, it’s open for business as usual). Shame it wasn’t on my prediction list for its own glorious sake. (And now I really want a doughnut.)

L is for local.which.co.uk, better known as Which Local. A place I go to when I need a tradesman I can trust.

M is for mail.google.com. Fair enough.

N is for NCT.org.uk.

O is for Ocado.com. Weekly grocery shopping has never been more serene.

P is for Photobox.co.uk, where I get my digital photos uploaded and printed.

Q is blank! Not that surprising, really..

R is for Rightmove.co.uk. I wonder what it would be if this weren’t the year we are moving house.

S is for Southbucks.gov.uk, namely because every time I find a house I like, I have to go here to check what the catchment school is. I thought my other online bank would be here, but clearly I am more interested in schools than in money. Really??

T is for Twitter.com. Not yet a regular user (except to publicize my blog of course), though the #bookswithalettermissing kept me fully occupied the other evening.

U is for UKcampsite.co.uk. A great place to go to if you’re looking for sites with campfires – the most comprehensive site for the UK, even if it is crying out for a graphic designer to work their magic on it.

V is for Vente-privee.com. A european designer sales site, where I get nice kids designer clothes (and other stuff) at high street prices without once having to deal with the stress of going into a clothes shop with three children.

W is for WordPress.com, of course.

X is also blank! Seriously. I don’t do the x-rated stuff.

Y is for Youtube.com. Where I go for vast quantities of dodgy karaoke tracks.

and finally, Z is for Zoopla.co.uk. Another house move website. Very useful for finding out what a house was bought for and when.

* * *

That was a slightly unnerving exercise. If I was the model mum/teacher/student, who didn’t procrastinate, shop at online sales, sing to her computer and play club penguin when the kids aren’t looking, I wonder what it would look like then?

I am typing this sitting in front of the Christmas tree. Which, since lunchtime today, has sprouted an inordinate quantity of presents.

Indeed. I have been wrapping solidly all afternoon.

However, in spite of making great progress and listening to some fab new Christmas tunes, I am starting to lose the will to live…. Getting snappy, headachey and generally heading towards a more Grinch-like attitude. (If we had a chimney, I might well have stuffed all the presents up there by now.)

The thing is, I actually like wrapping presents. I get excited about ribbons and tags and making stuff look pretty. Over the years my wrapping ability has slowly graduated from creative-but-messy to creative-and-actually-rather-nice, if I may say so myself.

So why the negativity? I reckon the reasons are twofold.

Firstly, It’s a bit closer to Christmas than I’d like. In my ideal world I’d buy presents from early November onwards, then wrap them as soon as I got them home, thus only having one or two to do at a time. Right now I know if they aren’t done by tomorrow lunchtime I’ll turn into a pumpkin. So there’s pressure to perform.

Secondly, as our family grows, so the number of presents grows exponentially. We don’t just need one more present from the baby, we need four more from each member of the family to her, and four for her to give to everyone. That’s eight more presents than last year, and that’s before we help Father Christmas out with any stocking fillers.

So what can I learn from this? Obviously I don’t want to become Mr Scrooge and give up on presents altogether. Gifts say so much more than anything else could. I will not go down the gift voucher route. Ever. A soulless way to give at Christmas; you might as well cut your heart out at the same time…though ironically I never mind receiving them‼

After an afternoon’s frustrated musings, I reckon the answer is to just buy presents through the year as I see them and have a place to stash them where I won’t forget I’ve got them. I’ll wrap them as and when I get them, and I’ll enjoy each individual wrapping session as much as I did before.

Well, that’s the plan anyway. Better than no plan…

____

By the way this will be my last post before Christmas, so season’s greetings to you all and I’ll be back next week. Merry Christmas!

We don’t see each other very often. She lives on the wrong continent, and plane tickets can get very pricey when you are a family of four or five…

Somehow, though, with good friends, you can just pick up where you left off. Nothing has changed between you. I used to worry terribly that it had, but it never does.

Those friends I still have from my teenage days are the ones who know me inside out from when I was at my worst. I may still be messy, clumsy and occasionally say the wrong thing. But generally speaking I’ve improved vastly on those fronts compared to the old days… If they wanted to be my friend then, I can be an even better friend now.

Of course sometimes we can be out of touch for ages. Life gets in the way, particularly now we have children of our own, let alone the time difference causing problems with those friends who are further afield. But that doesn’t seem to matter – you meet up again and it’s just the same. And you know they’re always there for you.